ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Restaurants Association, Saturday, requested the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) to reopen indoor dining facility to save the industry from collapse.
In a letter to NCOC Chairman Asad Umer, here on Friday, the Islamabad-based restaurant owners made a formal request to the NCOC for reopening of the indoor dining.
The IRA expressed disappointment over the decision taken by NCOC on August 2 regarding abrupt closure of indoor dining due to increase in Covid-19 positivity ratio, nationwide.
The IRA mentioned that a SOP was issued by NCOC that allowed indoor dining based on vaccination of all restaurant staff, and only vaccinated customers to be allowed for the indoor dining. Now, the NCOC put aside all the efforts made during past few months and banned the indoor dining, while it is unfair to bundle all restaurants into one category, the letter said.
The IRA also questioned what it called ‘unfair’ treatment with the restaurant industry, when many other activities where the spread of Covid-19 has a higher probability, were spared.
“All malls are open, all public transport is working unchecked passengers, all gyms are open, all mosques are full to capacity, and political parties are holding unchecked huge rallies and all tourist locations are open without any SOP follow-up.”
The association believes that it is a complete misunderstanding of the industry, when NCOC thinks that the restaurant industry is not really affected by this decision as outdoor and ecommerce delivery system is still open. It said majority of the restaurants in Pakistan have over 80precent dependency on indoor dining. Most of these restaurants cannot pay their salary and rent bills once the indoor dining is closed.
With the closure of indoor dining dependency increases on third-party e-commerce food delivery companies that charge more than 30 percent commission in most cases, making the restaurant business unprofitable.
The letter mentioned that for most restaurant owners, this is their only bread and butter. The closure of indoor dining makes them a zero revenue business and hence many restaurants have already closed down their business in the last 18 months.
Around eight million homes are at risk of losing their jobs if the indoor is closed, the letter warned.
Earlier, in a meeting at the chamber of commerce, Chairman NCOC Asad Umer had committed that the government will keep a separate amount in budget to support the restaurant industry but nothing has been given to the industry except lockdown.
This shows that protecting the restaurant industry is not on the NCOC agenda.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has multiple times publicly said that he does not believe in stopping economic activities, especially if it impacts the poor.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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